Flannel sheeting fabric for use in home textiles

ABSTRACT

Polyester yarns are knit on a warp knitting machine to make a base greige fabric. In a subsequent step, mechanical napping or brushing applied to both sides of the greige fabric.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to development of an alternativeto traditional cotton flannel used in home textiles; specifically to thedevelopment of a warp knit fabric of various polyester fiber deniers andthe special unexpected and useful properties that this fabricdemonstrates in comparison to cotton flannel used in the same hometextiles products.

BACKGROUND

The standard and traditional cotton flannel is created by weaving atightly spun cotton yarn in yarn sizes of NE 16-24 in the warp positionwith a soft twist cotton yarn in yarn sizes of NE 8-12 placed in theweft position. When woven, this allows soft twist yarns placed in theweft of the fabric to be held in place by tightly spun warp yarns. Thisis done to allow the softly twisted weft yarns to be napped or torn onthe surface by a raising/brushing machine. The resultant napped, orbrushed, surface is the ‘flannel’ effect. This conventional flannelproduct has always suffered from the following cotton and manufacturingrelated issues: it shrinks, as the yarns are not stable; it wrinkles, asthe yarns are delicate, and it pills, as the surface is composed ofbroken cotton fibers which are loosely held together in a traditional orslightly modified version of a 1×1 woven design of 1 warp yarn over 1weft yarn.

Over the decades, much research and work has been done in the field oftextile manufacturing to devise improved methods of producing a morestable flannel home textile fabric. These have included the use ofbetter cotton, better spinning techniques, additions of ‘fixative’chemicals, and mechanical processes to stabilize the end use cloth.However, these have all fallen short of the goal of creating a stableflannel product.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a stable flannelproduct that does not appreciably shrink, wrinkle, or pill.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Polyester yarns are knit on a warp knitting machine to make a basegreige fabric. In a subsequent step, mechanical napping or brushingapplied to both sides of the greige fabric.

The polyester greige cloth can be dyed and finished prior to beingnapped on two sides. The fabric has the following useful advantages overcotton flannel: it does not appreciably shrink, it does not appreciablypill, and it does not appreciably wrinkle under standard industrytesting conditions and in comparison to cotton flannel. Further, underthese same testing conditions, the fabric demonstrates unexpected usefulbenefits of being stain resistant to acids and alkalis as well as faderesistant to light.

In various forms, the fabric of the invention may be used as a bedsheet, a component of a comforter, a component of a mattress pad, acomponent of a decorative pillow, a component of a feather bed, acomponent of a window treatment, a component of a blanket or throwblanket, or one from the group consisting of a sheet set, a bed skirt, asham, drapes, valances, tie backs, curtains, bed pillows, throwblankets, bed blankets, and window treatments, or as otherwise used inthe manufacturing and offerings of the home textiles industry.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

An embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to home textile products that are createdfrom the unexpected benefit of the use of polyester yarns on a warpknitting machine to make a base greige fabric which is then processed,and coupled with the subsequent and novel step of mechanical napping orbrushing applied to both sides of this processed fabric. The processingcan consist of scouring, bleaching, and/or dyeing and/or printing. Thefinishing process can be the application of heat and/or mechanicallyapplied tension for length and width stability. An exemplary fabric 10of the invention is shown in FIG. 1.

Polyester has been used for decades in the manufacture of cloth andfill. Polyesters are polymers chemically composed of di-hydric alcoholand terephthalic acid. The resulting fiber is generally insoluble, showsresistance to weak concentrations of alkali (consequently, it is notaffected by human sweat), and is durable. In the prior art, it is usedprimarily on conventional weaving and knitting machines for themanufacture of fabrics.

In accordance with the invention, polyester yarns may be used withconventional warp knit machinery to manufacture a base fabric which maybe subsequently processed to provide a new flannel sheeting fabric foruse in home textiles, such as bed linens. The warp knit machinery loopsvarious yarns around each other to create a hybrid fabric which has bothknit and weaving benefits. The resultant hybrid fabric created is stablein its undyed, unprocessed, unfinished fabric form (which is commonlyknown in industry terms for all unfinished fabrics as ‘greige’, or ‘loomstate’).

Then, fabric dyeing and finishing processes (typically of the type usedfor cotton flannel) are performed on the fabric. Finally, the novel stepof high speed mechanical napping or brushing is applied to both sides ofthe greige. This sequence of processes produces a two sided raisedflannel effect on a wide width cloth that does not appreciably shrink,wrinkle, or pill.

In a preferred form, the warp knit machinery is conventional, such as amade by Karl Mayer of Germany. The size of the yarn in the base of thefabric is 50 D×48 F (denier/filament). The face of the fabric is 75D×144 F. The D (denier) refers to the size or thickness of the polyesteryarns as measured by a constant of #1 D is 1 gram equals 9000 meters, #2D equals 9000 meters in 2 grams, etc. The ‘F’ refers to the number offilaments of this particular yarn which arises from both the number ofspinnerets used in the manufacturing of this synthetic yarn and the rateof speed at which the solution is being pumped through the machine. Thefilament is matched to the denier to create an end use yarn for specificproperties of texture and drape. The gauge or courses of the warp knitmachinery is 7×570 threads per 280 cm. Dyeing and finishing isconventional (for cotton and synthetics). Finally, the fabric is nappedusing planetary napping rollers, 4 times on the face and 2 times on theback.

The resultant fabric satisfies the need for a home textile flannelsheeting fabric material that does not appreciably shrink, pill, orwrinkle.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detailfor purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limitedto the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementingthe invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative, and notrestrictive.

1. A textile comprising: warp knit fabric having a base and a face,wherein the face includes a polyester yarn and the base includes apolyester yarn, and wherein the face and the base are napped.
 2. Atextile according to claim 1 wherein the base yarn is 50 D×48 F.
 3. Atextile according to claim 1 wherein the face yarn is 75 D×144 F.
 4. Atextile according to claim 1 wherein the base yarn is 50 D×48 F and theface yarn is 75 D×144 F.
 5. A textile according to claim 1 wherein thefabric is a polyester warp knit flannel
 6. A textile according to claim1 wherein the fabric is a sheet.
 7. A textile according to claim 1wherein the fabric is a component of a comforter.
 8. A textile accordingto claim 1 wherein the fabric is a component of a mattress pad.
 9. Atextile according to claim 1 wherein the fabric is a component of adecorative pillow.
 10. A textile according to claim 1 wherein the fabricis a component of a feather bed
 11. A new home textile product comprisedof one from the group consisting of a sheet set, a bed skirt, a sham,drapes, valances, tie-backs, curtains, bed pillows, throw blankets, bedblankets, and window treatments.